view my other work here:
– surveys & interviews
– infographic
– deliverable 1
examples of filter:
click below to try out the filters on Instagram:
– What race are you?
– Not your problem
– Have you heard?
– Racist meter
vcii: deliverable 1
view my other work here:
– surveys & interviews
– infographic
– deliverable 2
link to the instagram page here.
vcii task 1b: survey and interviews
S U R V E Y
in this survey, i wanted to find out if Singaporeans aged 18-24 understand what is casual racism, and if they have ever unknowingly been racist.
below are screenshots of some responses. view the full set here.
I N T E R V I E W S
from the survey, i found that some of the racist comments the respondents shared with me were quite interesting. i felt like they deserved to have their stories told. so i went on to interview a few people of different races to gain a bit of insight.
here are excerpts of the interviews:
view the full set of interviews here.
vcii: infographic
Infographic poster on Casual Racism in Singapore.
vcii: dialogue with time – my reflection
Briefly share your experience going through Dialogue with Time. What were some of the feelings, thoughts, challenges and insights gained while role playing an elderly person?
The Dialogue with Time exhibition allowed us to roleplay as an elderly person going through everyday elderly problems. Before the exhibition started, we watched a video of a young girl slowly turning into an elderly woman. I guess when we started watching the video, I knew I had to look out for something like that since that was clearly the point of the exhibition. But then we were introduced to Francis and Wong (our guides), and they started talking about how fast time can fly without you realising, just like in the video. I guess having an actual elder relay that to me, saying it in the nicest way possible, kind of hit me.
We went into a room, and Wong gave us a chance to see his journey in 3 pictures. Again, having an elder share his life story with us hit a little too close to home. It felt like a group of grandkids gathered around listening to their grandfather’s stories.
Then it finally came to roleplaying. This was the hardest portion for me, definitely. Having lost a lot of relatives to the health problems that were actually recreated in that room, it was difficult for me to bring myself to roleplay as them. So i found this to be the most interesting room as well. Because it’s easy to brush off ‘elderly problems’ since we simply don’t experience them. But getting the chance to actually go through that was insightful.
Drawing on your experience, can you think and list some of the benefits inherent in the design research technique of role playing?
– At the forefront, user experience is the most important. Having roleplay will give you a chance to see if the user will even enjoy the design
– To gather more information to make the design as informative as possible. Information is obvious when it is relayed from first-hard experience, as opposed to something simply Googled.
Can you think of some contexts where role-playing can be useful to help discover and define design challenges or contribute to the development of design solutions?
I think it would be interesting how roleplaying can be used for social issues, rather than disabilities. We’ve seen Dialogue in the Dark and we’ve seen Dialogue with Time, but what about social issues that can’t be seen by the everyday eye? When you experience something that another member of society experiences, it helps to develop design solutions.
vcii: exploratory research
what are some of the current issues confronting our world today?
to start of, i wanted to look into current issues that have been a part of our world for a long time. issues that date back to the early 20th century, but still exist in today’s world despite our attempts to stop them.
1. drug traffickers in Singapore
Singapore spent $1.23 billion in 2015 in an attempt to combat drug crimes. and the number of drug abusers in Singapore has been decreasing since 1990.
where do these drug abusers get their drugs? from traffickers. people who bring in ‘the goods’ from overseas, and distribute them right here in Singapore. but once you get caught for even holding onto a smidge, you’re arrested. what troubles me is what happens to these traffickers once they get arrested. are they earning for their families? their kids? their meals? and where is their family going to get money after the breadwinner gets arrested? it’s simple for Singapore to brush it off and say “he shouldn’t have been dealing with drugs.” but for a society where the poor gets poorer, what is a man supposed to do?
2. sexual assault
sexual assault is a very prominent issue in today’s society. in the never-ending battle of male vs female power, women today are seen as sexualised beings and are heavily objectified by men. and yet women are still met with questions like “why you wear skirt?” “you wear singlet what?” “who ask you never cover up?” in a conservative society like Singapore, people would rather keep things hush and attack the victim instead of questioning the predator. but why are we blaming the victims?
http://sacc.aware.org.sg/get-information/what-is-sexual-assault/
3. casual racism in singapore (chosen topic)
many people believe that racism doesn’t exist anymore in today’s society. but it is still very much present in our lives. we live in a world where a 19 year old Malay boy who happens to live in a condo and has an open-concept kitchen believes he is of a higher standard than his counterparts. why does he feel this way?
racism happens everywhere around the world, whether we like it or not. but racism has been normalised in Singapore because of the multi-racial society we live in. “i just saying what, i joking only,” they would say to justify their racist remark. insisting that there is no malicious intent. it’s all fun and games until you get denied opportunities BECAUSE of your race.
https://newnaratif.com/journalism/brownface-and-racism-in-singapore/
4. single-father stigma
being a single-father is different from being a single-mother. because a female is already expected to be the caregiver of the household (another sexism issue, once again), there are a lot of benefits and opportunities already designed for a single-mother.
although it simply means seeing single-fathers is less common than seeing single-mothers, it doesn’t mean we should brush them aside. single-fathers deserve the benefits that single-mothers get as well. they are all fighting a battle.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/cnainsider/learning-to-be-a-single-dad-11652132
https://www.tnp.sg/news/singapore/father-three-fined-punching-pump-attendant-and-driving-drunk
why is the chosen issue important?
what are microaggressions? they are the brief everyday insults and denigrating messages sent to people of perceived groups. they are casual jokes, offhand remarks, and thoughtless behaviour. this is something that minority groups face every single day, but they are expected to be okay with it because ‘it’s a joke’.
in an article by Singapore Kindness Movement, they state “casual racism has always exited since our forefather’s time and that’s okay.” no it is absolutely not okay. when casual racism is something you face every single day, you will understand why it is completely unacceptable behaviour. this is something brushed off by Singaporeans, and hence why i feel it is important to highlight.
https://mothership.sg/2019/04/woman-singapore-mistaken-google-employee-canteen-staff/
https://mothership.sg/2019/08/skm-preetipls-casual-racism-article-outrage/
who do you need to communicate to?
my target audience is the majority racial group in Singapore. there is a need to educate Singapores on the wrongs of casual racism, and it should start from the majority themselves.
how has visual communication contributed to address the cause?
united colours of benetton
this 1991 poster came at a time where homosexual and interracial relationships were both stigmatised. this poster did not fetishise lesbians, and did not portray them in a sexual way. it was meant to depict a normal family portrait, as how you would perceive a straight same-race couple. this poster is effective because of how it promotes diversity by normalising it.
coca-cola
this iconic commercial promoted diversity by uniting people of different races and asking them to come together to share their love for coke. it is a simple and wholesome video, accompanied by a song to make your heart warm. it is engaging and effective.
fenty beauty
fenty beauty is a makeup line founded by singer Rihanna. the company is known for being one of the first to open up their shade range to cater to people of every skin tone. the whole point of their brand is to be diverse and to find beauty in all skin tones. this makes the brand fresh, current and up to date. it is effective in a sense that today’s society is more knowledgable in terms of racial discrimination.
vc: quantum vocab pt 3
find my previous work here:
– part 1: Graphic Mark
– part 2: A2 Poster
part 3: mr and mrs higgs boson
based on the higgs boson, my previous projects talked about the unsolved phenomenon, and how it can be related to life, death, and the afterlife. this project required us to create a booklet that served as an informative invitation. through this booklet, i wanted to explore how layout and form could convey this message.
initial concepts
initially, i wanted to play with origami folds because i figured i would have a lot more to work with that away. i had planned out for my poster to be on the cover, but stretched and distorted in a way so that it could be opened up and pulled apart.
however, after consulting with ina, she noticed that the origami folds would be too structured and linear, while my graphics are more organic and free. hence, it wouldn’t fit origami.
we decided to keep the fold simple, and experiment with paper instead.
experiment with holographic
decided to experiment with holographic paper instead because it was more in line with my concept. did multiple test prints to figure out what colour looked best, or if there was even a need for colour at all.
final layout
exterior
interior
process
PROBLEM #1
the biggest issue i faced was that i could only find printable holographic paper that was 315gsm. it wasn’t double sided as well. this meant that i wouldn’t be able to do a fold directly on the holographic paper itself.
after consulting ina, she suggested i print the exterior and interior separately. in order to fit my A5 cover, i had to print on A2 poster paper, and trim and fold accordingly.
details:
paper: holographic paper / poster paper
weight: 315GSM / 150GSM
typeface: Sporting Grotesque
PROBLEM #2:
after pasting the front and back cover onto my brochure, i realised that when opened, the brochure would be very flimsy and empty.
i solved this by adding holographic paper to the back of the brochure. it made the invite look a lot more cohesive, and helped it to be more stable as well.
experimentations
after presenting our invites, someone told me that she managed to find holographic paper that was a lot thinner!!!!! so i went to print a new version just for my own sanity. however, i was only able to print on A3, which meant that my final invite would be much smaller.
paper details:
paper: holographic paper
weight: 250gsm
i do like the scale of this invite, and the holographic effect is finally double sided!! however, the biggest issue is the creases/white marks created after folding. but i think this is mainly due to the thickness of the paper.
final pictures
A2 Poster
history of design: reflective essay
Essay attached here.
vc: quantum vocab pt 2
ideation
my chosen topic is the Higgs Boson. as mentioned in my previous work, i was fascinated by the Higgs Boson because of the lack of true understanding we humans have for this concept. i related this concept to the immortal jellyfish and decided to do the same for the poster.
nouns/verbs
i then went to note down the nouns and verbs that were related to the immortal jellyfish. through further research, i found out that the adult of a jellyfish is actually called a ‘Medusa’. i was immediately drawn to this Noun and decided to expand on it.
for the previous graphic mark, i was focusing on how the higgs boson represented death and resurrection. i decided to represent this through the immortal jellyfish, and i decided to personify the concept. hence, Mr Higgs Boson was born. now with the addition of the noun ‘Medusa’, i decided to create a new character – MRS Higgs Boson.
references and inspiration
sketches
the following are the preliminary sketches i did after my initial research.
techniques:
– overlap
– overwhelm the eye
i quite liked my initial sketches, however, i was extremely stumped by how i would actually execute it. i didn’t know what style of linework i would do, what colours, what stroke weight, what brush style, everything. they looked good as sketches, but i didn’t know if i could translate them well when digitised.
hence, i decided to explore further on the line drawings i would use for this project. i decided to sketch Medusa but using the techniques i used in the previous project, in which i drew a face without lifting my pencil off the paper. the effect definitely felt raw, unfinished and unique. which was a consistent style i could work with for this assignment as well.
however, after these explorations, i didn’t quite like how these would translate on big A2 size poster and decided to scrap this.
initial poster design
revised poster design
text development aka my death
final black and white version
colour explorations
painting aka death part 2
colour development
final poster design
vc: quantum vocab pt 1
